Bearer control method and system

ABSTRACT

Embodiments provide a bearer control method and system. The bearer control method includes: establishing a PDN connection when a UE accesses a network; and identifying and transmitting a service data flow of the UE on an air interface bearer between the UE and an access network access node according to obtained QoS information, and transmitting the service data flow by using a transmission tunnel between the access network access node and a core network gateway, or directly sending the service data flow to a packet data network by using the access network access node.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/243,516, filed on Jan. 9, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 15/298,463, filed on Oct. 20, 2016, now U.S. Pat.No. 10,201,024, which is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/CN2014/075819, filed on Apr. 21, 2014. All of the afore-mentionedpatent applications are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of communicationstechnologies, and in particular, to a bearer control method and system.

BACKGROUND

In a cellular network, data transmission from a terminal device, such asuser equipment (UE), to a packet data gateway (PGW) is implemented byusing an end-to-end bearer. Long Term Evolution (LTE) is used as anexample. A bearer from the UE to the PGW determines a data transmissionconnection between the UE and the PGW, and the bearer from the UE to thePGW is formed by connecting multiple sections of bearers mapped ontodifferent network nodes. Each section of bearer is identified by qualityof service (QoS). Service data flows may be filtered to differentbearers by using a data flow filter, so that service data flows having asame QoS requirement may be aggregated on a same bearer fortransmission.

A process in which a network establishes, modifies, or deletes anend-to-end bearer according to the terminal device and the QoS of theservice data flow is a part of session management. In addition to thesession management, mobility management on the terminal device is alsoan important part in the cellular network, and the mobility managementmainly includes updating of a location area in which the terminal deviceis located and paging of the terminal device.

After the LTE is introduced, because mobility management is separatelyperformed on the LTE and Global System for Mobile Communications(GSM)/Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) by using differentcore network mobility management entities, when the terminal devicemoves between the LTE and the GSM/WCDMA, location areas of differentsystems may need to be frequently updated.

In conclusion, in the prior art, a core network gateway establishes anend-to-end bearer according to the QoS requirement, and maps the servicedata flow of the terminal device onto the bearer. The core networkgateway does not know a resource status of an access network. When theQoS requirement of the service data flow changes, the end-to-end bearerneeds to be modified. The end-to-end bearer is bound to an accesstechnology, and cannot support a mode in which service data flows aretransmitted by using multiple access technologies and resources of theaccess technologies are dynamically used according to a resource status.The core network gateway needs to send a downlink data notification tothe mobility management entity, so as to trigger paging, and themobility management entity pages an access network device in a locationarea registered by the terminal device.

SUMMARY

In view of this, a problem that needs to be resolved is how to implementflexible control on a bearer and implement transmission of a servicedata flow of a terminal device by using multiple access technologies.

To resolve the foregoing technical problem, according to an embodiment,according to a first aspect, a bearer control method is provided,applied to a network architecture supporting multiple accesstechnologies. The method includes establishing a packet data network(PDN) connection when a terminal device UE accesses a network. Themethod also includes identifying and transmitting a service data flow ofthe UE on an air interface bearer between the UE and an access networkaccess node according to obtained quality of service (QoS) information,and transmitting the service data flow by using a transmission tunnelbetween the access network access node and a core network gateway, ordirectly sending the service data flow to a packet data network by usingthe access network access node.

With reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementationmanner of the first aspect, the establishing a packet data network (PDN)connection when a terminal device UE accesses a network includes: addinga PDN connection policy session to an access network control sessionbetween the access network access node and a PCRF; or adding the PDNconnection policy session between the access network access node and amobility management entity MME and/or between the MME and the PCRF.

With reference to the first aspect, in a second possible implementationmanner of the first aspect, before the identifying and transmitting aservice data flow of the UE on an air interface bearer between the UEand an access network access node according to obtained QoS information,the method includes: receiving, by the access network access node, theQoS information sent by the PCRF, or receiving, by the access networkaccess node by using the MME, the QoS information sent by the PCRF; andperforming, by the access network access node, radio resource controlRRC connection reconfiguration between the UE and the access networknode according to the QoS information, and allocating an air interfaceresource to the air interface bearer.

With reference to the second possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the first aspect,the performing, by the access network access node, radio resourcecontrol protocol RRC connection reconfiguration includes: sending, bythe access network access node, an RRC connection reconfigurationmessage to the UE, and allocating the air interface resource to the airinterface bearer; and receiving, by the access network access node, anRRC connection reconfiguration success response from the UE. The RRCconnection reconfiguration message includes a mapping relationshipbetween the service data flow of the UE and the air interface bearer andan identifier of the air interface resource, and the identifier is usedto indicate the air interface resource used by the UE to transmit, onthe air interface bearer, the service data flow.

With reference to the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementationmanner of the first aspect, the core network gateway includes a servinggateway and/or a packet data gateway, and before the transmitting theservice data flow by using a transmission tunnel between the accessnetwork access node and a core network gateway, the method includes:receiving, by the MME, a PDN connection establishment request sent bythe UE, where the PDN connection establishment request carries a PDNidentifier access point name APN; selecting, by the MME, the corenetwork gateway according to the APN and subscription information of theUE; sending, by the MME, a session establishment request to the corenetwork gateway, where the session establishment request carries firstchannel information allocated by the serving gateway to the PDNconnection, the first channel information includes an IP address and aport number that are of a first channel and that are allocated by theaccess network access node to the UE, and the first channel informationis used to establish the first channel between the serving gateway andthe packet data gateway; and returning, by the core network gateway, asession establishment response to the MME, where the sessionestablishment response carries second channel information allocated bythe packet data gateway to the PDN connection, the second channelinformation includes an IP address and a port number that are of asecond channel and that are allocated by the core network gateway to theUE, and the second channel information is used to establish the secondchannel between the packet data gateway and the serving gateway. Thefirst channel and the second channel form the transmission tunnel, whichis used to transmit the service data flow between the access networkaccess node and the core network gateway.

With reference to any one of the first aspect, or the first to thefourth possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a fifthpossible implementation manner of the first aspect, when the accessnetwork access node detects the service data flow of the UE, the methodfurther includes: sending, by the access network access node, a servicedetection report to the PCRF, and receiving the QoS information returnedby the PCRF; or sending, by the access network access node by using theMME, a service detection report to the PCRF, and receiving, by using theMME, the QoS information returned by the PCRF; and allocating, by theaccess network access node, the service data flow of the UE to the airinterface bearer according to the QoS information.

With reference to any one of the first aspect, or the first to the fifthpossible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a sixth possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect, in a case in which the accessnetwork access node detects that the UE does not have a service dataflow in a first preset period of time, the method further includes:releasing first connection information between the access network accessnode and the UE, storing a context of the UE in the access networkaccess node, and buffering downlink data of the UE in the access networkaccess node. The first connection information is at least one of: themapping relationship between the service data flow of the UE and the airinterface bearer, or the air interface resource allocated by the accessnetwork access node to the UE.

With reference to any one of the first aspect, or the first to the fifthpossible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a seventhpossible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a case in whichthe access network access node detects that the UE does not have aservice data flow in the first preset period of time, the method furtherincludes: releasing an RRC connection and second connection informationthat is between the access network access node and the serving gateway,storing the context of the UE in the MME, and buffering the downlinkdata of the UE in the serving gateway. The second connection informationis at least one of: intermediate data generated when the service dataflow is transmitted between the access network access node and theserving gateway, an occupied memory, an occupied port, or an occupiedcomputing resource. The context of the UE includes at least one of: theservice data flow of the UE, the QoS information, the air interfaceresource occupied by the UE, or a location area of the UE.

With reference to the sixth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, in an eighth possible implementation manner of the first aspect,when the UE has a new service data flow, the method further includes:receiving, by the access network access node, a recovery request sent bythe UE; allocating, by the access network access node, the new servicedata flow to the air interface bearer according to the stored context ofthe UE and the QoS information; and allocating, by the access networkaccess node, the air interface resource to the air interface bearer, sothat the new service data flow is transmitted on the air interfacebearer.

With reference to any one of the first aspect, or the first to theeighth possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in a ninthpossible implementation manner of the first aspect, the method furtherincludes: adding or modifying, by the access network access node, adedicated air interface bearer according to the QoS information, wherethe dedicated air interface bearer is established according to at leastone of a scheduling priority, a delay, a packet loss rate, or abandwidth requirement in the QoS information, and the dedicated airinterface bearer carries matching information of the service data flowand the dedicated air interface bearer.

With reference to the first aspect, in a tenth possible implementationmanner of the first aspect, a location area of the UE is managed by anMME, a context of the UE is stored in the MME, and when a location ofthe UE changes, the method further includes: sending, by the MME, acontext release command to the access network access node, so as toinstruct the access network access node to release the context of the UEand transfer the context of the UE to the MME. The context of the UEincludes at least one of: the service data flow of the UE, the QoSinformation, a mapping relationship between the service data flow of theUE and the air interface bearer, an air interface resource occupied bythe UE, or a location area of the UE. The method also includesretrieving, by a new MME, the context of the UE from the MME; andupdating, by the new MME according to a location change of the UE, alocation area registered by the UE.

With reference to the first aspect, in an eleventh possibleimplementation manner of the first aspect, a location area of the UE ismanaged by the access network access node, the MME manages a nodeidentifier when the UE moves between different access network accessnodes, and when a location of the UE changes, the method furtherincludes: sending, by the UE, an identifier of the MME to a new accessnetwork access node; sending, by the new access network access node to anew MME, an identifier of the new access network access node, atemporary identifier allocated by the MME to the UE, and the identifierof the MME; determining, by the new MME, whether the UE is registered;if yes, searching, by the new MME, for an identifier of the accessnetwork access node by using a context of the UE, and instructing,according to the identifier of the access network access node, theaccess network access node to delete a location area registered by theUE; or if no, finding, by the new MME, the MME according to the receivedidentifier of the MME, searching the MME for a registered context of theUE, searching for an identifier of the access network access node byusing the context of the UE, and instructing, according to theidentifier of the access network access node, the access network accessnode to delete a location area registered by the UE; and updating, bythe new access network access node according to a location change of theUE, the location area registered by the UE.

With reference to the eleventh possible implementation manner of thefirst aspect, in a twelfth possible implementation manner of the firstaspect, the location area of the UE is managed by the access networkaccess node, the MME manages a node identifier when the UE moves betweendifferent access network access nodes, and when the location of the UEchanges, the method further includes: sending, by the UE, the identifierof the MME to the new access network access node; determining, by thenew access network access node according to the identifier of the MME,whether the MME is the new MME with which the new access network accessnode is registered; if yes, sending, by the new access network accessnode to a new MME, the identifier of the new access network access nodeand the temporary identifier allocated by the MME to the UE, searching,by the new MME, for an identifier of the access network access node byusing the context of the UE, and instructing, according to theidentifier of the access network access node, the access network accessnode to delete the location area registered by the UE; or if no,sending, by the new access network access node to the new MME, theidentifier of the new access network access node, the temporaryidentifier allocated by the MME to the UE, and the identifier of theMME, finding, by the new MME, the MME according to the receivedidentifier of the MME, searching the MME for a registered context of theUE, searching for an identifier of the access network access node byusing the context of the UE, and instructing, according to theidentifier of the access network access node, the access network accessnode to delete the location area registered by the UE; and updating, bythe new access network access node according to the location change ofthe UE, the location area registered by the UE.

With reference to any one of the first aspect, or the first to thetwelfth possible implementation manners of the first aspect, in athirteenth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, when theUE has a new service data flow, the method further includes: receiving,by the access network access node, the downlink data of the UE, orreceiving downlink data sent by the serving gateway; and initiatingpaging of the UE in the location area registered by the UE.

With reference to the thirteenth possible implementation manner of thefirst aspect, in a fourteenth possible implementation manner of thefirst aspect, the method further includes: receiving, by the MME, adownlink data notification of the UE from the serving gateway, andsending a paging message to the access network access node, so as toinstruct the access network access node to initiate paging of the UE; orreceiving, by the access network access node, the paging message, andinitiating paging of the UE in the location area registered by the UE.

According to a second aspect, embodiments provide a bearer controlsystem, applied to a network architecture supporting multiple accesstechnologies. The system includes an access network access node; amobility management entity MME; and a core network gateway. The systemalso includes an establishment module, configured to establish a packetdata network (PDN) connection when a terminal device UE accesses anetwork. The system also includes a transmission module, configured to:identify and transmit a service data flow of the UE on an air interfacebearer between the UE and the access network access node according toobtained quality of service (QoS) information, and transmit the servicedata flow by using a transmission tunnel between the access networkaccess node and the core network gateway, or directly send the servicedata flow to a packet data network by using the access network accessnode.

With reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementationmanner of the second aspect, the establishment module includes: anadding unit, configured to: add a PDN connection policy session to anaccess network control session between the access network access nodeand a PCRF; or add the PDN connection policy session between the accessnetwork access node and the MME and/or between the MME and the PCRF.

With reference to the second aspect, in a second possible implementationmanner of the second aspect, the access network access node includes: areceiving unit, configured to: receive the QoS information sent by thePCRF, or receive, by using the MME, the QoS information sent by thePCRF; and a reconfiguration unit, connected to the receiving unit,configured to: perform radio resource control RRC connectionreconfiguration between the UE and the access network node according tothe QoS information, and allocate an air interface resource to the airinterface bearer.

With reference to the second possible implementation manner of thesecond aspect, in a third possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, the access network access node further includes: a sending unit,configured to: send an RRC connection reconfiguration message to the UE,and allocate the air interface resource to the air interface bearer; andthe receiving unit is further configured to receive an RRC connectionreconfiguration success response from the UE; where the RRC connectionreconfiguration message includes a mapping relationship between theservice data flow of the UE and the air interface bearer and anidentifier of the air interface resource, and the identifier is used toindicate the air interface resource used by the UE to transmit, on theair interface bearer, the service data flow.

With reference to the second aspect, in a fourth possible implementationmanner of the second aspect, the core network gateway includes a servinggateway and/or a packet data gateway, and the MME includes: a receivingunit, configured to receive a PDN connection establishment request sentby the UE, where the PDN connection establishment request carries a PDNidentifier access point name APN; a selection unit, connected to thereceiving unit, configured to select the core network gateway accordingto the APN and subscription information of the UE; a sending unit,connected to the selection unit, configured to send a sessionestablishment request to the core network gateway, where the sessionestablishment request carries first channel information allocated by theserving gateway to the PDN connection, the first channel informationincludes an IP address and a port number that are of a first channel andthat are allocated by the access network access node to the UE, and thefirst channel information is used to establish the first channel betweenthe serving gateway and the packet data gateway. The receiving unit isfurther configured to receive a session establishment response from thecore network gateway, where the session establishment response carriessecond channel information allocated by the packet data gateway to thePDN connection, the second channel information includes an IP addressand a port number that are of a second channel and that are allocated bythe core network gateway to the UE, and the second channel informationis used to establish the second channel between the packet data gatewayand the serving gateway. The first channel and the second channel formthe transmission tunnel, which is used to transmit the service data flowbetween the access network access node and the core network gateway.

With reference to any one of the second aspect, or the first to thefourth possible implementation manners of the second aspect, in a fifthpossible implementation manner of the second aspect, when the accessnetwork access node detects the service data flow of the UE, the sendingunit of the access network access node is further configured to: send aservice detection report to the PCRF, or send the service detectionreport to the PCRF by using the MME; and the receiving unit of theaccess network access node is further configured to: receive the QoSinformation returned by the PCRF, or receive the QoS informationreturned by the PCRF by using the MME; and the access network accessnode further includes: an allocation unit, configured to allocate theservice data flow of the UE to the air interface bearer according to theQoS information.

With reference to any one of the second aspect, or the first to thefifth possible implementation manners of the second aspect, in a sixthpossible implementation manner of the second aspect, the access networkaccess node further includes a releasing unit, and in a case in whichthe access network access node detects that the UE does not have aservice data flow in a first preset period of time, the releasing unitis configured to: release first connection information between theaccess network access node and the UE, store a context of the UE in theaccess network access node, and buffer downlink data of the UE in theaccess network access node, where the first connection information is atleast one of: the mapping relationship between the service data flow ofthe UE and the air interface bearer, or the air interface resourceallocated by the access network access node to the UE.

With reference to any one of the second aspect, or the first to thefifth possible implementation manners of the second aspect, in a seventhpossible implementation manner of the second aspect, in a case in whichthe access network access node detects that the UE does not have aservice data flow in the first preset period of time, the releasing unitis further configured to: release an RRC connection and secondconnection information that is between the access network access nodeand the serving gateway, store the context of the UE in the MME, andbuffer the downlink data of the UE in the serving gateway, where thesecond connection information is at least one of: intermediate datagenerated when the service data flow is transmitted between the accessnetwork access node and the serving gateway, an occupied memory, anoccupied port, or an occupied computing resource; and the context of theUE includes at least one of: the service data flow of the UE, the QoSinformation, the air interface resource occupied by the UE, or alocation area of the UE.

With reference to the sixth possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, in an eighth possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, when the UE has a new service data flow, the receiving unit ofthe access network access node is further configured to receive arecovery request sent by the UE; the allocation unit is furtherconfigured to allocate the new service data flow to the air interfacebearer according to the stored context of the UE and the QoSinformation; and the allocation unit is further configured to allocatethe air interface resource to the air interface bearer, so that the newservice data flow is transmitted on the air interface bearer.

With reference to any one of the second aspect, or the first to theeighth possible implementation manners of the second aspect, in a ninthpossible implementation manner of the second aspect, the access networkaccess node further includes: a modification unit, configured to add ormodify a dedicated air interface bearer according to the QoSinformation, where the dedicated air interface bearer is establishedaccording to at least one of a scheduling priority, a delay, a packetloss rate, or a bandwidth requirement in the QoS information, and thededicated air interface bearer carries matching information of theservice data flow and the dedicated air interface bearer.

With reference to the second aspect, in a tenth possible implementationmanner of the second aspect, a location area of the UE is managed by theMME, a context of the UE is stored in the MME, and when a location ofthe UE changes, the sending unit of the MME is further configured tosend a context release command to the access network access node, so asto instruct the access network access node to release the context of theUE and transfer the context of the UE to the MME, where the context ofthe UE includes at least one of: the service data flow of the UE, theQoS information, a mapping relationship between the service data flow ofthe UE and the air interface bearer, an air interface resource occupiedby the UE, or a location area of the UE; and a new MME includes: aretrieving unit, configured to retrieve the context of the UE from theMME; and an updating unit, connected to the retrieving unit, configuredto update, according to a location change of the UE, a location arearegistered by the UE.

With reference to the second aspect, in an eleventh possibleimplementation manner of the second aspect, a location area of the UE ismanaged by the access network access node, the MME manages a nodeidentifier when the UE moves between different access network accessnodes, and when a location of the UE changes, a new access networkaccess node includes: a receiving unit, configured to receive anidentifier of the MME from the UE; and a sending unit, connected to thereceiving unit, configured to send, to a new MME, an identifier of theaccess network access node, a temporary identifier allocated by the MMEto the UE, and the identifier of the MME; where the new MME furtherincludes: a determining unit, configured to determine whether the UE isregistered; and a searching unit, in a case in which it is determinedthat the UE is registered, configured to: search for an identifier ofthe access network access node by using a context of the UE, andinstruct, according to the identifier of the access network access node,the access network access node to delete a location area registered bythe UE; or in a case in which it is determined that the UE is notregistered, configured to: find the MME according to the receivedidentifier of the MME, search the MME for a registered context of theUE, search for an identifier of the access network access node by usingthe context of the UE, and instruct, according to the identifier of theaccess network access node, the access network access node to delete thelocation area registered by the UE; and the new access network accessnode further includes: an updating unit, configured to update, accordingto a location change of the UE, the location area registered by the UE.

With reference to the eleventh possible implementation manner of thesecond aspect, in a twelfth possible implementation manner of the secondaspect, the location area of the UE is managed by the access networkaccess node, the MME manages the node identifier when the UE movesbetween different access network access nodes, and when the location ofthe UE changes, the new access network access node further includes: adetermining unit, configured to determine, according to the identifierof the MME, whether the MME is the new MME with which the new accessnetwork access node is registered, where the sending unit of the newaccess network access node is further configured to: in a case in whicha determining result is yes, send, to the new MME, the identifier of thenew access network access node and the temporary identifier allocated bythe MME to the UE; or the sending unit of the new access network accessnode is further configured to: in a case in which a determining resultis no, send, to the new MME, the identifier of the new access networkaccess node, the temporary identifier allocated by the MME to the UE,and the identifier of the MME.

With reference to any one of the second aspect, or the first to thetwelfth possible implementation manners of the second aspect, in athirteenth possible implementation manner of the second aspect, when theUE has a new service data flow, the receiving unit of the access networkaccess node is further configured to: receive the downlink data of theUE, or receive downlink data sent by the serving gateway; and initiatepaging of the UE in the location area registered by the UE.

With reference to the thirteenth possible implementation manner of thesecond aspect, in a fourteenth possible implementation manner of thesecond aspect, the receiving unit of the MME is further configured toreceive a downlink data notification of the UE from the serving gateway,and the sending unit of the MME is further configured to send a pagingmessage to the access network access node, so as to instruct the accessnetwork access node to initiate paging of the UE; or the receiving unitof the access network access node is further configured to: receive thepaging message, and initiate paging of the UE in the location arearegistered by the UE.

In the embodiments, a function of an MME is simplified by performinghierarchical management on a bearer between UE and a network; an accessnetwork access node controls transmission of a service data flow on theair interface bearer according to QoS information. This enhancesmanagement on an air interface resource status by the access networkaccess node, further, improves network resource management efficiencyand a network capacity, reduces power consumption, and provides a basisfor further evolution of a mobile network.

Exemplary embodiments are described in detail below according to thefollowing reference accompanying drawings, and another characteristicand another aspect of the present invention become clear.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Accompanying drawings included in the specification and constructing apart of the specification jointly show the exemplary embodiments,characteristics and aspects of the present invention, and are intendedto explain the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a bearer control method according to Embodiment1;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a bearer control method according to Embodiment2;

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a scenario of a bearer control method accordingto Embodiment 3;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a scenario of a bearer control method accordingto Embodiment 4;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a scenario of a bearer control method accordingto Embodiment 5;

FIG. 6a to FIG. 6c are diagrams of a bearer control method according toEmbodiment 6;

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a scenario of a bearer control method accordingto Embodiment 7;

FIG. 8 is a structural block diagram of a bearer control systemaccording to Embodiment 8;

FIG. 9 is a structural block diagram of a bearer control systemaccording to Embodiment 9;

FIG. 10 is a structural block diagram of a bearer control systemaccording to Embodiment 10;

FIG. 11 is a structural block diagram of a bearer control systemaccording to Embodiment 11;

FIG. 12a to FIG. 12c are structural block diagrams of a new MME and/or anew access network access node according to Embodiment 12; and

FIG. 13 is a structural block diagram of a bearer control systemaccording to Embodiment 13.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

The following will describe various exemplary embodiments, features andaspects of the present invention in detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings. Like accompanying symbols in the accompanyingdrawings represent elements with like or similar functions. Althoughvarious aspects of the embodiments are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, the accompanying drawings are not necessarily drawn inproportion unless otherwise specified.

The specific term “exemplary” herein means “used as an example,embodiment or illustrative”. Any embodiment described as “exemplary” isnot necessarily explained as being superior or better than otherembodiments.

In addition, for better illustration of the present invention, variousspecific details are given in the following specific implementationmanner. A person of ordinary skill in the art should understand that thepresent invention may also be implemented without the specific details.In some other embodiments, methods, means, components, and circuits wellknown by a person skilled in the art are not described in detail, sothat a main purpose of the present invention is highlighted.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a bearer control method according toEmbodiment 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the bearer control method may mainlyinclude the following steps.

Step 100: Establish a packet data network (PDN) connection when aterminal device UE accesses a network.

Specifically, in a process of accessing the network by the UE, networkaccess registration first needs to be performed, and authentication isperformed on the UE by obtaining subscription information between the UEand the network. The subscription information may be saved in a homesubscriber server (HSS). The foregoing network access registrationprocess of the UE is an attach procedure. After the attach procedure,the UE already accesses the network. However, to perform datatransmission between networks, that is, to complete a correspondingsubscriber service, a PDN policy session further needs to be added, soas to establish a PDN connection between the UE and the network. The HSSis a database saving user subscription information, and the subscriptioninformation may include: a user category, a service use right, aquality-of-service class, a charging mode, and the like that arenegotiated by the user with an operator.

Step 120: Identify and transmit a service data flow of the UE on an airinterface bearer between the UE and an access network access nodeaccording to obtained quality of service (QoS) information, and transmitthe service data flow by using a transmission tunnel between the accessnetwork access node and a core network gateway, or directly send theservice data flow to a packet data network by using the access networkaccess node.

Specifically, after the PDN connection is established, the UE mayreceive the QoS information from a policy and charging rule function(PCRF) decision point by using the PDN connection. The service data flowof the UE may be identified according to a requirement of the QoSinformation. Further, a data path of a granularity of the foregoing PDNconnection may include an air interface bearer part and a transmissiontunnel part. The air interface bearer is a transmission path between theUE and the access network access node (for example, an eNodeB). Theservice data flow of the UE may be identified according to therequirement of the received QoS information, and service data flows thatdo not meet the requirement of the QoS information are separatelymatched with different air interface bearers. The access network accessnode may separately allocate an air interface resource to different airinterface bearers, so as to transmit the service data flow of the UE.The transmission tunnel part is the transmission tunnel between theaccess network access node and the PCRF, may be used to transmit theservice data flow between the access network access node and the PCRF,and does not require that the service data flow is identified accordingto the requirement of the QoS information. Alternatively, in a case inwhich the access network access node already accesses the network andhas a network interface, the access network access node may directlysend, to the packet data network, the service data flow that is receivedfrom the UE by using the air interface bearer.

In a possible implementation manner, the data path of the granularity ofthe PDN connection established between the access network access nodeand the core network gateway bears all uplink data and downlink data ofthe PDN connection of the UE. In a case in which the UE changes into anidle state, that is, in a case in which no service data flow needs to betransmitted, context information of the UE saved in each network nodemay be deleted and released on the data path, so as to improve networkresource utilization. In addition, the data path may be reserved. Whenthe UE initiates a location update on another access network accessnode, the data path between the original access network access node andthe core network gateway may be deleted. When the UE initiates a servicerequest, that is, in a case in which a service data flow needs to betransmitted, the data path of the granularity of the PDN connection thatis of the UE and that is between the access network access node in whichthe UE initiates the service request and the core network gateway may berecovered.

In a possible implementation manner, in the foregoing networkarchitecture, the access network access node may be an evolved NodeB(eNB) in the LTE, a base station (NodeB) and a radio network controller(RNC) in the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a basetransceiver station (BTS) and a base station controller (BSC) in theGlobal System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and a single radionetwork controller (SRC), where the SRC is an access network thatintegrates a multi-mode radio network controller or coordinator, and theaccess network may include the LTE, the UMTS, and a network of accesstechnologies such as the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 andthe GSM, where the LTE belongs to the 4th Generation MobileCommunication (4G) technology, the UMTS and the CDMA2000 belong to the3rd Generation Mobile Communication (3G) technology, and the GSM belongsto the 2nd Generation Mobile Communication (2G) technology. The corenetwork gateway may be a gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) of a generalpacket radio service (GPRS) core network, and a serving gateway (SGW)and a PGW of a 4G core network (EPC). A mobility management entity maybe a mobility management entity (MME) of the LTE, a serving GPRS supportnode (SGSN) of the UMTS and the GSM, and a core network controller (CC)unrelated to the access technology. When the SGSN has a user plane, theSGSN may be both the mobility management entity and the core networkgateway.

According to the bearer control method in this embodiment, a function ofan MME is simplified by performing hierarchical management on a bearerbetween UE and a network; an access network access node controlstransmission of a service data flow on the air interface beareraccording to QoS information. This enhances management on an airinterface resource status by the access network access node, further,improves network resource management efficiency and a network capacity,reduces power consumption, and provides a basis for further evolution ofa mobile network.

Embodiment 2

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a bearer control method according toEmbodiment. Steps that have a same reference sign in FIG. 2 and FIG. 1have a same function. For brevity, detailed descriptions about thesesteps are omitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, a main difference between the bearer control methodshown in FIG. 2 and the bearer control method shown in FIG. 1 is thatstep 100 may specifically include the following steps.

Step 200: Establish a PDN connection policy session between an accessnetwork access node and a policy and charging rule function PCRFdecision point.

Further, step 200 may be implemented in either of the following twopossible manners:

Manner 1: A PDN connection policy session is added to an access networkcontrol session between the access network access node and the PCRF; or

Manner 2: The PDN connection policy session is added between the accessnetwork access node and a mobility management entity MME and/or betweenthe MME and the PCRF.

Specifically, on one hand, after UE completes an attach procedure, eachnode in a network, for example, the access network access node or theMME, may save identification information of the UE. On the other hand,in a process of establishing a PDN connection, each node in the network,for example, the access network access node or the MME, may further saveidentification information of a PDN. The access network access node orthe MME may find a corresponding PCRF in the network by using the savedidentification information of the UE and the saved identificationinformation of the PDN, and initiate establishing of the PDN connectionpolicy session. If all PDN connections of the UE are served by one PCRF,Manner 1 may be used, and the PDN connection policy session is added tothe access network control session between the access network accessnode and the PCRF. If all PDN connections of the UE are respectivelyserved by multiple PCRFs, Manner 2 may be used, the PDN connectionpolicy session is added between the access network access node and theMME, and the MME and the PCRF establish the PDN connection policysession between the MME and the PCRF.

In a possible implementation manner, before step 120, the bearer controlmethod may further include:

Step 210: The access network access node receives QoS information sentby the PCRF, or the access network access node receives, by using theMME, the QoS information sent by the PCRF.

Step 220: The access network access node performs radio resource control(RRC) connection reconfiguration between the UE and the access networknode according to the QoS information, and allocates an air interfaceresource to an air interface bearer.

Specifically, the access network access node may directly receive theQoS information from the PCRF by using the foregoing transmission path,or may receive the QoS information from the PCRF by using the MME, sothat the access network access node may subsequently identify a servicedata flow of the UE according to the QoS information, and complete theradio resource control (RRC) connection reconfiguration.

Further, after receiving the QoS information, the access network accessnode may identify the service data flow of the UE according to arequirement of the QoS information, establish a mapping relationshipbetween different service data flows that meet different requirements ofthe QoS information and different air interface bearers, and allocate,to different air interface bearers, the air interface resource, that is,the air interface resource used when different service data flows aretransmitted on different air interface bearers.

Step 220 may further include the following steps.

Step 221: The access network access node sends an RRC connectionreconfiguration message to the UE, and allocates the air interfaceresource to the air interface bearer.

Step 222: The access network access node receives an RRC connectionreconfiguration success response from the UE.

The RRC connection reconfiguration message includes the mappingrelationship between the service data flow of the UE and the airinterface bearer and an identifier of the air interface resource, andthe identifier of the air interface resource is used to indicate the airinterface resource used by the UE to transmit, on the air interfacebearer, the service data flow. The access network access node mayreceive the RRC connection reconfiguration success response from the UE,so that the RRC connection reconfiguration process is completed.

In a possible implementation manner, the access network access node mayfurther obtain the QoS information (such as bandwidth, a priority, adelay, and a packet loss rate) of the service data flow by using uplinkand downlink data flows that are of the UE and that are identified bythe access network access node. Further, if the UE transmits the servicedata flow by using the foregoing data path, a node in a network (forexample, the MME) may save a context of the UE, including the mappingrelationship that is between the service data flow and the QoSinformation and that is in the context. In this case, the access networkaccess node may obtain, from the MME, the mapping relationship that isbetween the service data flow and the QoS information and that is in thecontext, allocate uplink and downlink resources (especially airinterface radio resources) to the UE, map the uplink and downlinkresources to the air interface bearer, and send, by using the RRCconnection reconfiguration message to the UE, the mapping relationshipbetween the service data flow and the air interface bearer and the airinterface resource that is used when the UE transmits, on the airinterface bearer, the service data flow.

In a possible implementation manner, a core network gateway may includea serving gateway SGW and/or a packet data gateway PGW. Before step 120,the bearer control method may further include the following steps.

Step 230: The MME receives a PDN connection establishment request sentby the UE, where the PDN connection establishment request carries a PDNidentifier access point name APN.

Specifically, after establishing an air interface connection to theaccess network access node by using an access technology (for example,LTE, WCDMA, and GSM), the UE may send, by using the air interfaceconnection, the PDN connection establishment request to the MME, wherethe PDN connection establishment request may carry the PDN identifieraccess point name (APN for short), and the APN may be used to indicate aPDN network used by the UE. Optionally, if the UE does not complete theattach procedure, the PDN connection establishment request may also bean attach request, and the MME may perform authentication on the UEaccording to subscription information that is of the UE and that issaved in the HSS, so as to ensure security of a network. For a specificexample of subscription information, refer to the related description ofthe bearer control method in Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Step 240: The MME selects the core network gateway according to the APNand subscription information of the UE.

Step 250: The MME sends a session establishment request to the corenetwork gateway, where the session establishment request carries firstchannel information allocated by the serving gateway to the PDNconnection, the first channel information includes an IP address and aport number that are of a first channel and that are allocated by theaccess network access node to the UE, and the first channel informationis used to establish the first channel between the serving gateway andthe packet data gateway.

Step 260: The core network gateway returns a session establishmentresponse to the MME, where the session establishment response carriessecond channel information allocated by the packet data gateway to thePDN connection, the second channel information includes an IP addressand a port number that are of a second channel and that are allocated bythe core network gateway to the UE, and the second channel informationis used to establish the second channel between the packet data gatewayand the serving gateway. The first channel and the second channel formthe transmission tunnel, which is used to transmit the service data flowbetween the access network access node and the core network gateway.

Specifically, the MME may select the core network gateway for the UEaccording to the received APN and the subscription information of theUE, where the core network gateway may include the packet data gatewayand the serving gateway; and send the session establishment request tothe serving gateway, and then send the session establishment request tothe packet data gateway by using the serving gateway, where: the sessionestablishment request may carry the first channel information allocatedby the serving gateway to the PDN connection that needs to beestablished; and the first channel information may include the IPaddress, the port number, and the like that are of the first channel andthat are allocated by the access network access node to the UE, so as toestablish the first channel between the serving gateway and the packetdata gateway in the PDN connection. In this way, the first channelbetween the packet data gateway and the serving gateway is alreadyestablished. In a possible implementation manner, in this case, thepacket data gateway may send, to the serving gateway, the downlink datathat is transmitted by the UE on the PDN connection. The downlink datamay be temporarily buffered in the serving gateway. The packet datagateway sends the session establishment response to the serving gateway,where: the session establishment response may carry the second channelinformation allocated by the packet data gateway to the PDN connection;and the second channel information may include the IP address, the portnumber, and the like that are of the second channel and that areallocated by the core network gateway to the UE, so as to establish thesecond channel between the packet data gateway and the serving gatewayin the PDN connection. After receiving the session establishmentresponse, the serving gateway may send the session establishmentresponse to the MME, where the session establishment response may carrythe first channel information allocated by the serving gateway to thePDN connection. After receiving the session establishment response, theMME may send a PDN connection channel establishment request and downlinkchannel information to the access network access node, where thedownlink channel information may include the IP address, the portnumber, and the like that are allocated to the UE, so as to establish adownlink channel between the MME and the access network access node. Theaccess network access node feeds back the PDN connection channelestablishment response to the MME, where: the PDN connection channelestablishment response may carry uplink channel information allocated bythe access network access node to the PDN connection; and the uplinkchannel information may include the IP address, the port number, and thelike that are allocated to the UE, so as to establish an uplink channelbetween the MME and the access network access node. The UE feeds back tothe MME that the PDN connection has been established. In this case, theUE may send uplink data to the packet data gateway, and in this case,the downlink data that might be buffered in the serving gateway may alsobe sent to the UE.

It should be noted that in a process of establishing the PDN connection,an initial air interface bearer may be established between the UE andthe access network access node, where the initial air interface bearermay include a dedicated air interface bearer. After receiving the QoSinformation, the access network access node may add or modify thededicated air interface bearer according to a requirement of the QoSinformation, where the dedicated air interface bearer is establishedaccording to at least one of a scheduling priority, a delay, a packetloss rate, or a bandwidth requirement in the QoS information, and thededicated air interface bearer carries matching information of theservice data flow and the dedicated air interface bearer.

According to the bearer control method in this embodiment, a function ofan MME is simplified by performing hierarchical management on a bearerbetween UE and a network; an access network access node controlstransmission of a service data flow on the air interface beareraccording to QoS information. This enhances management on an airinterface resource status by the access network access node, further,improves network resource management efficiency and a network capacity,reduces power consumption, and provides a basis for further evolution ofa mobile network.

Embodiment 3

FIG. 3 is a diagram of a scenario of a bearer control method accordingto Embodiment 3. As shown in FIG. 3, after a PDN connection isestablished, a service data flow of UE may change. For example, theservice data flow of the UE may be different at different times. Anaccess network access node may perform service identification on aservice of the UE, and detect the service data flow of the UE. In thisscenario, the bearer control method may include the following steps.

Step 300: The access network access node sends a service detectionreport to a PCRF, or the access network access node sends the servicedetection report to the PCRF by using an MME.

Step 310: The access network access node receives QoS informationreturned by the PCRF, or the access network access node receives, byusing the MME, the QoS information returned by the PCRF.

Step 320: The access network access node allocates the service data flowof the UE to the air interface bearer according to the QoS information.

Specifically, in a case in which a service identification function inthe access network access node detects the service data flow of the UE,the service flow detection report may be generated, and the service flowdetection report is reported to the PCRF. Refer to the relateddescription of establishing a PDN connection policy session in thebearer control method of Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In apossible implementation manner, the access network access node maydirectly send the service detection report to the PCRF. In anotherpossible implementation manner, the access network access node may sendthe service detection report to the PCRF by using the MME. Afterreceiving the service flow detection report, the PCRF may provide theQoS information for the access network access node. Refer to the relateddescription of establishing the PDN connection policy session in thebearer control method of Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In apossible implementation manner, the access network access node maydirectly receive the QoS information returned by the PCRF. In anotherpossible implementation manner, the access network access node mayreceive the QoS information returned by the PCRF by using the MME.

In a possible implementation manner, another node in a network may alsohave a service identification function. In a case in which another nodein the network detects the service data flow of the UE by means ofservice identification, the service flow detection report may also besent to the PCRF, so that PCRF may provide the QoS information for theaccess network access node, and subsequently perform matching betweenthe service data flow and the air interface bearer.

The access network access node may receive the QoS information sent bythe PCRF, match the service data flow of the UE with different airinterface bearers according to the requirement of the QoS information,that is, match the service data flow that has a same requirement of theQoS information with a same air interface bearer, and establish amapping relationship between the service data flow, the QoS information,and the air interface bearer. In a possible implementation manner, for aspecific requirement of the QoS information, a dedicated air interfacebearer may need to be modified or added between the access networkaccess node and the UE.

After the mapping relationship between the service data flow, the QoSinformation, and the air interface bearer is established, the accessnetwork access node may send the foregoing mapping relationship to theUE in the RRC connection reconfiguration of the UE by using an RRCconnection reconfiguration message, where the RRC connectionreconfiguration message may include a mapping relationship between theservice data flow of the UE and the air interface bearer, and mayfurther include an identifier of an air interface resource allocated bythe access network access node to the UE, and the identifier of the airinterface resource may be used to indicate an air interface resourcethat is used by the UE to transmit, on the air interface bearer, theservice data flow of the UE. In this way, the service data flow of theUE may be transmitted on the matching air interface bearer, and in thiscase, the access network access node may return a QoS informationexecution response to the PCRF.

According to the bearer control method in this embodiment, a function ofan MME is simplified by performing hierarchical management on a bearerbetween UE and a network; an access network access node controlstransmission of a service data flow on the air interface beareraccording to QoS information. This enhances management on an airinterface resource status by the access network access node, further,improves network resource management efficiency and a network capacity,reduces power consumption, and provides a basis for further evolution ofa mobile network.

Embodiment 4

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a scenario of a bearer control method accordingto Embodiment 4.

After a PDN connection is established between UE and a network, if aservice data flow of the UE is detected, an access network access nodemay receive QoS information from a PCRF, and match the service data flowwith an air interface bearer according to a requirement of the QoSinformation, so that uplink data and downlink data are transmitted. Inthe foregoing process, the access network access node needs to allocatean air interface resource to the UE, and may save, in each node of thenetwork, a context related to the UE, for example, service data flowinformation and the QoS information. In a process of transmitting theservice data flow by the UE, intermediate data may be generated in eachnode of the network, thereby occupying a memory of each node of thenetwork, a port between the nodes of the network, and the like. However,the UE may not have a service data flow that needs to be transmitted ina period of time, that is, the UE is in an idle state. In this case, tosave a network resource, reduce burden on each node of the network, andimprove a storage capability of each node of the network, an airinterface resource occupied by the UE in an idle state and the contextof the UE saved in each node of the network may be released. As shown inFIG. 4, the releasing process may be performed in the following twomanners.

Manner 1: In a case in which the access network access node detects thatthe UE does not have a service data flow in a first preset period oftime, first connection information between the access network accessnode and the UE is released, the context of the UE is stored in theaccess network access node, and the downlink data of the UE is bufferedin the access network access node. The first connection information isat least one of: a mapping relationship between the service data flow ofthe UE and the air interface bearer, or the air interface resourceallocated by the access network access node to the UE.

Specifically, if the access network access node detects that the UE doesnot have a service data flow that needs to be transmitted in the firstpreset period of time (for example, 2 hours), that is, the UE is in anidle state, or a non-activity timer of the UE expires, the firstconnection information of the UE may be released, that is, at least oneof the mapping relationship between the service data flow of the UE andthe air interface bearer in the access network access node or the airinterface resource allocated by the access network access node to the UEis released.

The access network access node may send an RRC connection releaserequest to the UE, so as to instruct to release the first connectioninformation between the access network access node and the UE. In thiscase, a PDN connection channel between the access network access nodeand a serving gateway is not released. When the downlink data arrives,the downlink data may be buffered in the access network access nodeafter a packet data gateway sends the downlink data to the accessnetwork access node, and is used to subsequently trigger paging of theUE.

Manner 2: In a case in which the access network access node detects thatthe UE does not have a service data flow in the first preset period oftime, the RRC connection and the second connection information betweenthe access network access node and the serving gateway are released, thecontext of the UE is stored in an MME, and the downlink data of the UEis buffered in the serving gateway. The second connection information isat least one of: intermediate data generated when the service data flowis transmitted between the access network access node and the servinggateway, an occupied memory, an occupied port, or an occupied computingresource. The context of the UE includes at least one of: the servicedata flow of the UE, the QoS information, the air interface resourceoccupied by the UE, or a location area of the UE.

Specifically, if the access network access node detects that the UE doesnot have a service data flow that needs to be transmitted in the firstpreset period of time (for example, 2 hours), that is, the UE is in anidle state, or the non-activity timer of the UE expires, the secondconnection information between the RRC connection of the UE, the accessnetwork access node, and the serving gateway may be released, where thesecond connection information may include the intermediate datagenerated when the service data flow is transmitted between the accessnetwork access node and the serving gateway, the occupied memory, theoccupied port, the occupied resource, and the like; and the context ofthe UE may include at least one of: the service data flow of the UE, theQoS information, the air interface resource occupied by the UE, or thelocation area of the UE.

The access network access node may send a UE network access contextrelease request to the MME, so as to instruct to release a UE networkaccess context saved in each node of the network, so that each node ofthe network may have a larger storage capacity. After receiving the UEnetwork access context release request, the MME may send a channelrelease request to a core network gateway, so as to instruct the corenetwork gateway to release the second connection information of the UE.After receiving the channel release request, the core network gatewaymay return a channel release response to the MME. The MME may return aUE network access context release command to the access network accessnode, so as to instruct the access network access node to release thesecond connection information of the UE.

In this case, the PDN connection channel between the access networkaccess node and the serving gateway is already released. When thedownlink data arrives, the downlink data may be buffered in the servinggateway after the packet data gateway sends the downlink data to theserving gateway, and is used to subsequently trigger paging of the UE.

It should be noted that when the access network access node sends the UEnetwork access context release request to the MME and when UE networkaccess context is released, the context of the UE, for example, theservice data flow and the QoS information, may be stored in the MME.

In a possible implementation manner, to reduce processing burden of theaccess network access node and save a storage resource of the accessnetwork access node, two levels of non-activity timers of the UE may bedisposed; and if the UE does not perform any activity in a relativelyshort period of time, the access network access node may release thefirst connection information in Manner 1; or if the UE does not performany activity in a relatively long period of time, the access networkaccess node may release the RRC connection and the second connectioninformation in Manner 2.

According to the bearer control method in this embodiment, firstconnection information, or an RRC connection and second connectioninformation are released when it is detected that UE is in an idlestate, so that network resource management efficiency and a networkcapacity may be improved and power consumption may be reduced; further,hierarchical management on a bearer between the UE and a network may beimplemented in two different release manners, thereby simplifying afunction of an MME, and enhancing management on an air interfaceresource status by an access network access node.

Embodiment 5

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a scenario of a bearer control method accordingto Embodiment 5. As shown in FIG. 5, a UE in an idle state mayregenerate a new service data flow. In this case, a UE network accesscontext may be re-found according to a service request of the UE, and aconnection between the UE and a core network gateway may be recovered.For two release manners of the bearer control method in Embodiment 4, aservice request procedure of the UE may be performed in the followingtwo manners.

Manner 1: The access network access node receives a recovery requestsent by the UE; the access network access node allocates the new servicedata flow to the air interface bearer according to a stored context ofthe UE and according to the QoS information; and the access networkaccess node allocates an air interface resource to the air interfacebearer, so that the new service data flow is transmitted on the airinterface bearer.

Specifically, refer to the release manner 1 of the bearer control methodin Embodiment 4. The access network access node may store the UE networkaccess context, and remain a PDN connection channel between the accessnetwork access node and a serving gateway. The UE may not send a servicerequest to an MME any longer, and only an RRC connection needs to berecovered between the UE and the access network access node. The accessnetwork access node may match the new service data flow of the UE withthe air interface bearer according to a requirement that is of the QoSinformation and that is in the UE network access context stored in theaccess network access node. Refer to a related description of the bearercontrol method in Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In an RRCconnection reconfiguration process, a dedicated air interface bearer mayneed to be modified or established between the UE and the access networkaccess node. After the RRC connection reconfiguration is completed, theUE may transmit, on a corresponding air interface bearer, the servicedata flow by using a corresponding air interface resource.

Manner 2: Before the steps in Manner 1, the following steps may furtherbe included: receiving, by the access network access node, an initial UEnetwork access context establishment request sent by the MME, where theinitial UE network access context establishment request carries thecontext that is of the UE and that is stored by the MME and uplinkchannel information allocated by the serving gateway to the PDNconnection, and the uplink channel information includes an IP addressand a port number of the UE, so that uplink data of the UE istransmitted between the access network access node and the servinggateway; and returning an initial UE network access contextestablishment response to the MME, where the initial UE network accesscontext establishment response carries downlink channel informationallocated by the access network access node to the PDN connection, andthe uplink channel information includes the IP address and the portnumber of the UE, so that downlink data of the UE is transmitted betweenthe access network access node and the serving gateway.

Specifically, the UE may send a service request to the MME. Optionally,the MME may perform authentication on the UE according to subscriptioninformation that is of the UE and that is saved in an HSS, so as toensure security of a network. After receiving a service request of theUE, the MME may send the initial UE network access context establishmentrequest to the access network access node, where the initial UE networkaccess context establishment request may carry the context of the UEthat is stored in the MME after a release procedure of an air interfaceconnection is executed in Embodiment 4 of the present invention, forexample, service flow information and the QoS information, and mayfurther carry the downlink channel information allocated by the servinggateway to the PDN connection.

Further, the access network access node may match the new service dataflow of the UE with the air interface bearer according to therequirement of the QoS information in the context of the UE. Refer to arelated description of the bearer control method in Embodiment 2 of thepresent invention. In an RRC connection reconfiguration process, adedicated air interface bearer may need to be modified or establishedbetween the UE and the access network access node. After the RRCconnection reconfiguration is completed, the UE may send uplink data.The access network access node may send the initial UE network accesscontext establishment response to the MME, where the initial UE networkaccess context establishment response may carry the downlink channelinformation allocated by the MME to the PDN connection. In this case,the downlink data buffered in the serving gateway may be sent to the UEby using the MME.

According to the bearer control method in this embodiment, after aservice request of UE is received, a connection between a core networkgateway and the UE is recovered according to different release manners,so that network resource management efficiency and a network capacitymay be improved and power consumption may be reduced; further,hierarchical management on a bearer between the UE and a network isimplemented, thereby simplifying a function of an MME, and enhancingmanagement on an air interface resource status by an access networkaccess node.

Embodiment 6

FIG. 6a to FIG. 6c are flowcharts of a bearer control method accordingto Embodiment 6. As shown in FIG. 6a to FIG. 6c , in the foregoingnetwork architecture, management on a location area of UE may includetwo manners. Specifically, in a process of using the UE, a location maychange. Therefore, in a network, the location area of the UE needs to bemanaged. A management manner may include the following two manners.

Manner 1: Location area management is completely performed by an MME.

Manner 2: An access network access node manages a paging area in theaccess network access node, and an MME manages a node identifier whenthe UE moves between different access network access nodes.

For nodes of the network in which the UE is located, such as the accessnetwork access node, the MME, and a serving gateway, there may bemultiple situations of a location change of the UE. For example, the UEcompletely moves from an original access network access node to anaccess network access node that is not under control of the originalMME, and the serving gateway also changes. If any one of or multiple ofthe original access network access node, the MME, and the servinggateway do not change, a location update procedure may be simplified.

In a possible implementation manner, as shown in FIG. 6a , the locationarea of the UE is managed by the MME, a context of the UE is stored inthe MME, and when a location of the UE changes, the bearer controlmethod may include the following steps.

Step 610: The MME sends a context release command to the access networkaccess node, so as to instruct the access network access node to releasethe context of the UE and transfer the context of the UE to the MME. Thecontext of the UE includes at least one of: a service data flow of theUE, the QoS information, a mapping relationship between the service dataflow of the UE and an air interface bearer, an air interface resourceoccupied by the UE, or a location area of the UE.

Step 611: A new MME retrieves the context of the UE from the MME.

Step 612: The new MME updates, according to a location change of the UE,a location area registered by the UE.

Specifically, in the embodiments, because the access network access nodeshares responsibility for some transactions of the UE, for example,matches, according to the QoS information, the service data flow of theUE with different air interface bearers for transmission, in addition toa context generated when the MME manages the UE, the context of the UEfurther includes a context generated when the access network access nodemanages the UE. When the location of the UE changes, this part of thecontext needs to be retrieved from the access network access node.

In a possible implementation manner, as shown in FIG. 6b , the locationarea of the UE is managed by the access network access node, the MMEmanages a node identifier when the UE moves between different accessnetwork access nodes, and when the location of the UE changes, thebearer control method may further include the following steps.

Step 620: The UE sends an identifier of the MME to a new access networkaccess node.

Step 621: The new access network access node sends, to a new MME, anidentifier of the new access network access node, a temporary identifierallocated by the MME to the UE, and the identifier of the MME.

Step 622: The new MME determines whether the UE is registered.

Step 623: If yes, the new MME searches for the identifier of the accessnetwork access node by using a context of the UE, and instructs,according to the identifier of the access network access node, theaccess network access node to delete the location area registered by theUE.

Step 624: If no, the new MME finds the MME according to the receivedidentifier of the MME, searches the MME for a registered context of theUE, searches for an identifier of the access network access node byusing the context of the UE, and instructs, according to the identifierof the access network access node, the access network access node todelete the location area registered by the UE.

Step 625: The new access network access node updates, according to thelocation change of the UE, the location area registered by the UE.

For example, if an access network access node 1 may completeregistration with an MME 1, the UE accesses the network by using theaccess network access node 1, and performs transmission of the servicedata flow. The MME 1 may allocate a temporary identifier to the UE, andin addition, the UE may obtain an identifier of the MME 1. When thelocation of the UE changes and the UE moves to an access network accessnode 2, where the access network access node 2 may complete registrationwith an MME 2, the UE may send the identifier of the MME 1 to the accessnetwork access node 2. The access network access node 2 sends, to theMME 2, an identifier of the access network access node 2, the temporaryidentifier allocated by the MME 1 to the UE, and the identifier of theMME 1. After receiving the identifier of the access network access node2, the temporary identifier allocated by the MME 1 to the UE, and theidentifier of the MME 1, the MME 2 may determine whether the UE isregistered with the MME 2. If yes, it indicates that the MME 2 may savethe context of the UE, and may find, in the context of the UE, theidentifier of the access network access node 1, and instruct thecorresponding access network access node 1 to delete the location arearegistered by the UE; or if no, the MME 2 may find the MME 1 accordingto the received identifier of the MME 1, searches the MME 1 for aregistered context of the UE, searches for the identifier of the accessnetwork access node 1 by using the context of the UE, and instructs,according to the identifier of the access network access node 1, thecorresponding access network access node 1 to delete the location arearegistered by the UE. Finally, the access network access node 2 updates,according to the location change of the UE, the location area registeredby the UE, that is, re-registers a location area for the UE.

In a possible implementation manner, as shown in FIG. 6c , if thelocation area of the UE is managed by the access network access node,the MME manages the node identifier when the UE moves between differentaccess network access nodes, and when the location of the UE changes,the bearer control method may further include the following steps.

Step 640: The UE sends the identifier of the MME to the new accessnetwork access node.

Step 641: The new access network access node determines, according tothe identifier of the MME, whether the MME is the new MME with which thenew access network access node is registered.

Step 642: If yes, the new access network access node sends, to the newMME, the identifier of the new access network access node and thetemporary identifier allocated by the MME to the UE, and the new MMEsearches for an identifier of the access network access node by usingthe context of the UE, and instructs, according to the identifier of theaccess network access node, the access network access node to delete thelocation area registered by the UE.

Step 643: If no, the new access network access node sends, to the newMME, the identifier of the new access network access node, the temporaryidentifier allocated by the MME to the UE, and the identifier of theMME, and the new MME finds the MME according to the received identifierof the MME, searches the MME for a registered context of the UE,searches for an identifier of the access network access node by usingthe context of the UE, and instructs, according to the identifier of theaccess network access node, the access network access node to delete thelocation area registered by the UE.

Step 644: The new access network access node updates, according to thelocation change of the UE, the location area registered by the UE.

Specifically, a difference from the foregoing possible implementationmanner is that the access network access node may first performdetermining once, and determine, according to a determining result,whether the identifier of the MME needs to be sent to the new MME.

A description is given with reference to the foregoing example. The UEmay send the identifier of the MME 1 to the access network access node2, and the access network access node 2 may determine, according to thereceived identifier of the MME 1, whether the MME 1 is the MME withwhich the access network access node 2 is registered. If yes, the accessnetwork access node 2 may send, to the MME 2, the identifier of theaccess network access node 2 and the temporary identifier allocated bythe MME 1 to the UE, and after receiving the identifier of the accessnetwork access node 2 and the temporary identifier allocated by the MME1 to the UE, the MME 2 searches, by using the context that is of the UEand that is saved in the MME 2, for the identifier of the access networkaccess node 1, and instructs, by using the identifier, the correspondingaccess network access node 1 to delete the location area registered bythe UE; or if no, the access network access node 2 may send, to the MME2, the identifier of the access network access node 2, the temporaryidentifier allocated by the MME 1 to the UE, and the identifier of theMME 1, and the MME 2 finds the corresponding MME 1 according to thereceived identifier of the MME 1, searches the registered context of theUE from the MME 1, searches the identifier of the access network accessnode 1 by using the context of the UE, and instructs, according to theidentifier of the access network access node 1, the corresponding accessnetwork access node 1 to delete the location area registered by the UE.Finally, the access network access node 2 updates, according to thelocation change of the UE, the location area registered by the UE, thatis, re-registers a location area for the UE.

In a possible implementation manner, in a case in which the UE is in anidle state in a relatively long period of time, that is, in a case inwhich no service data flow needs to be transmitted, if the context ofthe UE is stored in the MME, the location area of the UE is managed bythe access network access node, and the MME manages the node identifierwhen the UE moves between different access network access nodes; when alocation manner of the UE changes, that is, the UE initiates a locationupdate or has a new service data flow, the access network access nodemay retrieve the context of the UE from the MME, where the context mayinclude a mobility context used when the access network access nodemanages the UE, that is, a location area originally allocated to the UE;and process a location update request, or re-allocate a location area tothe UE according to the location of the UE.

For example, if the UE completely moves from the original access networkaccess node to an access network access node that is not under controlof the original MME, and the serving gateway also changes, for example,the access network access node changes from the access network accessnode 2 into the access network access node 1, the MME changes from theMME 2 into the MME 1, and the serving gateway changes from the servinggateway 2 into the serving gateway 1, in the location update procedure,the location area of the UE may be managed in Manner 1. The UE may senda location update message to the MME 1. The MME 1 may establish a PDNconnection channel between the MME 1, a serving gateway 1, and a packetdata gateway; the location area of the UE is updated in an HSS; thelocation area of the UE originally registered, by the MME 2, in HSS iscanceled; if the MME 2 stores the context of the UE, the MME 1 mayobtain the context of the UE from the MME 2, or if the access networkaccess node 2 stores the context of the UE, the MME 2 needs to retrievethe context of the UE from the access network access node 2, andtransfer the context to the MME 1; a PDN session connection between theMME 2 and a serving gateway 2 is deleted.

In a possible implementation manner, for the foregoing situation, thelocation area of the UE may be managed in Manner 2. The UE may initiatea paging area update on the access network access node 1, and the accessnetwork access node 1 initiates access node update on the MME 1. In thisprocess, a node identifier of the access network access node may becarried, and the MME 1 may update the access network access node bymanaging the node identifier. The access network access node 1 maymanage the paging area update of the UE. For management on the contextof the UE and the PDN connection channel, refer to the relateddescription of the foregoing bearer control method in this embodiment.

In a possible implementation manner, if the location area of the UE isupdated, and the serving gateway does not change, according to therelated description of the foregoing bearer control method in thisembodiment, the PDN connection channel between the MME and a corenetwork gateway does not need to be updated. Therefore, a procedure maybe simplified.

In a possible implementation manner, if the location area of the UE isupdated, and the MME does not change, according to the relateddescription of the foregoing bearer control method in this embodiment,the context of the UE does not need to be transferred between the MMEs.In addition, only registration of the location of the UE needs to beupdated in an HSS, and the registration of the location does not need tobe deleted. If the MME stores the context of the UE, the context of theUE may be directly used. If the access network access node stores thecontext of the UE, the MME may find the corresponding access networkaccess node and retrieve the context of the UE for subsequentmanagement.

It should be noted that the foregoing implementation manners describedin this embodiment are merely some possible implementation manners ofthe bearer control method, and the present invention is not limitedthereto. The bearer control method in this embodiment may further havemany possible implementation manners according to a specific situationof the UE location update, a storage location of the context of the UE,and a management manner for the location area of the UE.

According to the bearer control method in this embodiment, a function ofan MME is simplified by performing hierarchical management on a bearerbetween UE and a network. This enhances management on a context of theUE by an access network access node, further, improves network resourcemanagement efficiency and a network capacity, reduces power consumption,and provides a basis for further evolution of a mobile network.

Embodiment 7

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a scenario of a bearer control method accordingto Embodiment 7. As shown in FIG. 7, after a location of UE is updated,a new service data flow is generated, and paging of the UE needs to beinitiated.

According to the related description of the foregoing embodiment,downlink data of the UE may be buffered in an access network accessnode, or may be buffered in a serving gateway. A paging procedure mayinclude: receiving, by the access network access node, the downlink dataof the UE, or receiving downlink data sent by the serving gateway; andinitiating paging of the UE in a location area registered by the UE.

The paging procedure may further include: receiving, by an MME, thedownlink data of the UE from the serving gateway, and sending a pagingmessage to the access network access node, so as to instruct the accessnetwork access node to initiate paging of the UE; or receiving, by theaccess network access node, the paging message, and initiating paging ofthe UE in the location area registered by the UE.

Specifically, if the release Manner 2 in the foregoing embodiment isused, when second connection information between an RRC connection, theaccess network access node, and the serving gateway is already released,and the serving gateway receives the downlink data, the serving gatewaymay buffer the downlink data and send a downlink data notification tothe MME; after receiving the downlink data notification, the MME maysend the paging message to the access network access node, so as toinstruct the access network access node to page the UE. If management onthe location area of the UE is performed in Manner 1 in the bearercontrol method in Embodiment 6 of the present invention and iscompletely performed by the MME, the MME may add the location arearegistered by the UE to the paging message sent by the access networkaccess node; the access network access node may page the UE in acorresponding cell according to the location area registered by the UE.If management on the location area of the UE is performed in Manner 2 inthe bearer control method in Embodiment 6, a paging area in the accessnetwork access node is managed by the access network access node, andthe MME manages a node identifier when the UE moves between differentaccess network access nodes; the MME sends the paging message to theaccess network access node, and the access network access node may pagethe UE in a corresponding cell according to the paging area registeredby the UE.

If the release Manner 1 in the foregoing embodiment is used, only firstconnection information between the UE and the access network access nodeis released, and the access network access node may receive the downlinkdata and buffer the downlink data. If management on the location area ofthe UE is performed in Manner 1 in the bearer control method inEmbodiment 6 and is completely performed by the MME, the access networkaccess node may page the UE in a corresponding cell according to thelocation area registered by the UE. If management on the location areaof the UE is performed in Manner 2 in the bearer control method inEmbodiment 6, a paging area in the access network access node is managedby the access network access node, and the MME manages a node identifierwhen the UE moves between different access network access nodes; theaccess network access node may page the UE in a corresponding cellaccording to the paging area registered by the UE.

According to the bearer control method in this embodiment, a function ofan MME is simplified by performing hierarchical management on a bearerbetween UE and a network. This enhances management on a context of theUE by an access network access node, further, improves network resourcemanagement efficiency and a network capacity, reduces power consumption,and provides a basis for further evolution of a mobile network.

Embodiment 8

FIG. 8 is a structural block diagram of a bearer control systemaccording to Embodiment 8. As shown in FIG. 8, the bearer control system800 may mainly include: an access network access node 810; a mobilitymanagement entity 820; and a core network gateway 830. The system mayalso include an establishment module 840, configured to establish apacket data network (PDN) connection when a terminal device UE accessesa network. The system may also include a transmission module 850,configured to: identify and transmit a service data flow of the UE on anair interface bearer between the UE and the access network access nodeaccording to obtained quality of service (QoS) information, and transmitthe service data flow by using a transmission tunnel between the accessnetwork access node and the core network gateway, or directly send theservice data flow to a packet data network by using the access networkaccess node.

Specifically, in a process of accessing the network by the UE, networkaccess registration first needs to be performed, and authentication isperformed on the UE by obtaining subscription information between the UEand the network. The subscription information may be saved in a homesubscriber server (HSS). The foregoing network access registrationprocess of the UE is an attach procedure. After the attach procedure,the UE already accesses the network. However, to perform datatransmission between networks, that is, to complete a correspondingsubscriber service, the establishment module 840 further needs to add aPDN policy session, so as to establish a PDN connection between the UEand the network. The HSS is a database storing user subscriptioninformation, and the subscription information may include: a usercategory, a service use right, a quality-of-service class, a chargingmode, and the like that are negotiated by the user with an operator.

After the establishment module 840 establishes the PDN connection, theUE may receive the QoS information from a policy and charging rulefunction (PCRF) decision point by using the PDN connection. Thetransmission module 850 may identify the service data flow of the UEaccording to a requirement of the QoS information. Further, a data pathof a granularity of the foregoing PDN connection may include an airinterface bearer part and a transmission tunnel part. The air interfacebearer is a transmission path between the UE and the access networkaccess node 810 (for example, an eNodeB). The transmission module 850may identify the service data flow of the UE according to therequirement of the received QoS information, and service data flows thatdo not meet the requirement of the QoS information are separatelymatched with different air interface bearers. The access network accessnode 810 may separately allocate an air interface resource to differentair interface bearers, so as to transmit the service data flow of theUE. The transmission tunnel part is the transmission tunnel between theaccess network access node 810 and the PCRF, may be used to transmit theservice data flow between the access network access node and the PCRF,and does not require that the service data flow is identified accordingto the requirement of the QoS information. Alternatively, in a case inwhich the access network access node 810 already accesses the networkand has a network interface, the access network access node 810 maydirectly send, by using a transmission module 850 to a packet datanetwork, the service data flow that is received from the UE by using theair interface bearer.

In a possible implementation manner, the data path of the granularity ofthe PDN connection established between the access network access node810 and the core network gateway 830 bears all uplink data and downlinkdata of the PDN connection of the UE. In a case in which the UE changesinto an idle state, that is, in a case in which no service data flowneeds to be transmitted, context information of the UE saved in eachnetwork node may be deleted and released on the data path, so as toimprove network resource utilization. In addition, the data path may bereserved. When the UE initiates a location update on another accessnetwork access node, the data path between the original access networkaccess node 810 and the core network gateway 830 may be deleted. Whenthe UE initiates a service request, that is, in a case in which aservice data flow needs to be transmitted, the data path of thegranularity of the PDN connection that is of the UE and that is betweenthe access network access node 810 in which the UE initiates the servicerequest and the core network gateway 830 may be recovered.

In a possible implementation manner, in the foregoing system, forspecific examples of the access network access node 810, the corenetwork gateway 830, and the mobility management entity 820, refer tothe related description of the bearer control method in Embodiment 1.Details are not described herein again.

According to the bearer control system in this embodiment, a function ofan MME is simplified by performing hierarchical management on a bearerbetween UE and a network; an access network access node controlstransmission of a service data flow on the air interface beareraccording to QoS information. This enhances management on an airinterface resource status by the access network access node, further,improves network resource management efficiency and a network capacity,reduces power consumption, and provides a basis for further evolution ofa mobile network.

Embodiment 9

FIG. 9 is a structural block diagram of a bearer control systemaccording to Embodiment 9. Components that have a same reference sign inFIG. 9 and FIG. 8 have a same function. For brevity, detaileddescriptions about these components are omitted.

As shown in FIG. 9, a main difference between the bearer control system900 shown in FIG. 9 and the bearer control system shown 800 in FIG. 8 isthat the establishment module 840 may specifically include: an addingunit 910, configured to: add a PDN connection policy session to anaccess network control session between the access network access nodeand a PCRF; or add the PDN connection policy session between the accessnetwork access node and the MME and/or between the MME and the PCRF.

Specifically, on one hand, after UE completes an attach procedure, eachnode in a network, for example, the access network access node 810 orthe MME 820, may save identification information of the UE. On the otherhand, in a process of establishing a PDN connection, each node in thenetwork, for example, the access network access node 810 or the MME 820,may further save identification information of a PDN. The access networkaccess node 810 or the MME 820 may find a corresponding PCRF in thenetwork by using the saved identification information of the UE and thesaved identification information of the PDN, and initiate establishingof the PDN connection policy session. If all PDN connections of the UEare served by one PCRF, the adding unit 910 may add the PDN connectionpolicy session to the access network control session between the accessnetwork access node 810 and the PCRF. If all PDN connections of the UEare respectively served by multiple PCRFs, the adding unit 910 may addthe PDN connection policy session between the access network access node810 and the MME 820, and the MME 820 and the PCRF establish the PDNconnection policy session between the MME 820 and the PCRF.

In a possible implementation manner, the access network access node 810may include: a receiving unit 920, configured to: receive the QoSinformation sent by the PCRF, or receive, by using the MME, the QoSinformation sent by the PCRF; and a reconfiguration unit 930, connectedto the receiving unit 920, configured to: perform radio resource controlRRC connection reconfiguration between the UE and the access networknode according to the QoS information, and allocate an air interfaceresource to the air interface bearer.

Specifically, the receiving unit 920 of the access network access node810 may directly receive the QoS information from the PCRF by using theforegoing transmission path, or may receive the QoS information from thePCRF by using the MME 820, so that the access network access node 810may subsequently identify a service data flow of the UE according to theQoS information, and complete the radio resource control (RRC)connection reconfiguration.

Further, after the receiving unit 920 of the access network access node810 receives the QoS information, the reconfiguration unit 930 mayidentify the service data flow of the UE according to a requirement ofthe QoS information, establish a mapping relationship between differentservice data flows that meet different requirements of the QoSinformation and different air interface bearers, and allocate, todifferent air interface bearers, the air interface resource, that is,the air interface resource used when different service data flows aretransmitted on different air interface bearers.

The access network access node 810 may further include: a sending unit940, configured to: send an RRC connection reconfiguration message tothe UE, and allocate the air interface resource to the air interfacebearer. The receiving unit 920 is further configured to receive an RRCconnection reconfiguration success response from the UE.

The RRC connection reconfiguration message includes the mappingrelationship between the service data flow of the UE and the airinterface bearer and an identifier of the air interface resource, andthe identifier of the air interface resource is used to indicate the airinterface resource used by the UE to transmit, on the air interfacebearer, the service data flow. The receiving unit 920 may receive theRRC connection reconfiguration success response from the UE, so that theRRC connection reconfiguration process is completed.

In a possible implementation manner, the access network access node 810may further obtain the QoS information (such as bandwidth, a priority, adelay, and a packet loss rate) of the service data flow by using uplinkand downlink data flows that are of the UE and that are identified bythe access network access node 810. Further, if the UE transmits theservice data flow by using the foregoing data path, a node in a network(for example, the MME 820) may save a context of the UE, including themapping relationship that is between the service data flow and the QoSinformation and that is in the context. In this case, the access networkaccess node 810 may obtain, from the MME 820, the mapping relationshipthat is between the service data flow and the QoS information and thatis in the context, allocate an uplink resource and downlink resources(especially air interface radio resources) to the UE, map the uplink anddownlink resources to the air interface bearer, and send, by using theRRC connection reconfiguration message to the UE, the mappingrelationship between the service data flow and the air interface bearerand the air interface resource that is used when the UE transmits, onthe air interface bearer, the service data flow.

In a possible implementation manner, the core network gateway 830 mayinclude a serving gateway (SGW) and/or a packet data gateway (PGW). TheMME 820 may specifically include: a receiving unit 950, configured toreceive a PDN connection establishment request sent by the UE, where thePDN connection establishment request carries a PDN identifier accesspoint name APN; a selection unit 960, connected to the receiving unit950, configured to select the core network gateway according to the APNand subscription information of the UE; a sending unit 970, connected tothe selection unit 960, configured to send a session establishmentrequest to the core network gateway, where the session establishmentrequest carries first channel information allocated by the servinggateway to the PDN connection, the first channel information includes anIP address and a port number that are of a first channel and that areallocated by the access network access node to the UE, and the firstchannel information is used to establish the first channel between theserving gateway and the packet data gateway. The receiving unit 950 isfurther configured to receive a session establishment response from thecore network gateway, where the session establishment response carriessecond channel information allocated by the packet data gateway to thePDN connection, the second channel information includes an IP addressand a port number that are of a second channel and that are allocated bythe core network gateway to the UE, and the second channel informationis used to establish the second channel between the packet data gatewayand the serving gateway. The first channel and the second channel formthe transmission tunnel, which is used to transmit the service data flowbetween the access network access node and the core network gateway.

For a specific example, refer to the related description in the bearercontrol method of Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Details are notdescribed herein again.

The access network access node 810 may further include a modificationunit 980. In a process of establishing the PDN connection, an initialair interface bearer may be established between the UE and the accessnetwork access node, where the initial air interface bearer may includea dedicated air interface bearer. After the access network access node810 receives the QoS information, the modification unit 980 may add ormodify the dedicated air interface bearer according to a requirement ofthe QoS information, where the dedicated air interface bearer isestablished according to at least one of a scheduling priority, a delay,a packet loss rate, or a bandwidth requirement in the QoS information,and the dedicated air interface bearer carries matching information ofthe service data flow and the dedicated air interface bearer.

According to the bearer control system in this embodiment, a function ofan MME is simplified by performing hierarchical management on a bearerbetween UE and a network; an access network access node controlstransmission of a service data flow on the air interface beareraccording to QoS information. This enhances management on an airinterface resource status by the access network access node, further,improves network resource management efficiency and a network capacity,reduces power consumption, and provides a basis for further evolution ofa mobile network.

Embodiment 10

FIG. 10 is a structural block diagram of a bearer control systemaccording to Embodiment 10. After a PDN connection is established, aservice data flow of UE may change. For example, the service data flowof the UE may be different at different times. An access network accessnode 810 may perform service identification on a service of the UE, anddetect the service data flow of the UE.

As shown in FIG. 10, the access network access node 810 of the bearercontrol system 1000 may further include an allocation unit 1010. Whenthe access network access node 810 detects the service data flow of theUE, the sending unit 940 is further configured to send a servicedetection report to the PCRF, and the receiving unit 920 is furtherconfigured to receive the QoS information returned by the PCRF; or thesending unit 940 is further configured to send a service detectionreport to the PCRF by using the MME, and a receiving unit 920 is furtherconfigured to receive, by using the MME, the QoS information returned bythe PCRF; and the allocation unit 1010 is configured to allocate theservice data flow of the UE to the air interface bearer according to theQoS information.

For a specific example, refer to the related description in the bearercontrol method of Embodiment 3. Details are not described herein again.

According to the bearer control system in this embodiment, a function ofan MME is simplified by performing hierarchical management on a bearerbetween UE and a network; an access network access node controlstransmission of a service data flow on the air interface beareraccording to QoS information. This enhances management on an airinterface resource status by the access network access node, further,improves network resource management efficiency and a network capacity,reduces power consumption, and provides a basis for further evolution ofa mobile network.

Embodiment 11

FIG. 11 is a structural block diagram of a bearer control systemaccording to Embodiment 11.

After a PDN connection is established between UE and a network, if aservice data flow of the UE is detected, an access network access node810 may receive QoS information from a PCRF, and match the service dataflow with an air interface bearer according to a requirement of the QoSinformation, so that uplink data and downlink data are transmitted. Inthe foregoing process, the access network access node 810 needs toallocate an air interface resource to the UE, and may save, in each nodeof the network, a context related to the UE, for example, service dataflow information and the QoS information. In a process of transmittingthe service data flow by the UE, intermediate data may be generated ineach node of the network, thereby occupying a memory of each node of thenetwork, a port between the nodes of the network, and the like. However,the UE may not have a service data flow that needs to be transmitted ina period of time, that is, the UE is in an idle state. In this case, tosave a network resource, reduce burden on each node of the network, andimprove a storage capability of each node of the network, an airinterface resource occupied by the UE in an idle state and the contextof the UE saved in each node of the network may be released.

As shown in FIG. 11, the access network access node 810 may furtherinclude a releasing unit 1110.

In a case in which the access network access node 810 detects that theUE does not have a service data flow in a first preset period of time,the releasing unit 1110 is configured to: release first connectioninformation between the access network access node and the UE, store thecontext of the UE in the access network access node, and buffer thedownlink data of the UE in the access network access node, where thefirst connection information is at least one of: the mappingrelationship between the service data flow of the UE and the airinterface bearer, or the air interface resource allocated by the accessnetwork access node to the UE.

In a case in which the access network access node 810 detects that theUE does not have a service data flow in the first preset period of time,the releasing unit 1110 is further configured to: release secondconnection information between an RRC connection, the access networkaccess node, and a serving gateway, store the context of the UE in anMME, and buffer the downlink data of the UE in the serving gateway,where the second connection information is at least one of: intermediatedata generated when the service data flow is transmitted between theaccess network access node and the serving gateway, an occupied memory,an occupied port, or an occupied computing resource; and the context ofthe UE includes at least one of: the service data flow of the UE, theQoS information, the air interface resource occupied by the UE, or alocation area of the UE.

For a specific example, refer to the related description of the bearercontrol method in Embodiment 4. Details are not described herein again.

Further, UE in an idle state may regenerate a new service data flow. Inthis case, a UE network access context may be re-found according to aservice request of the UE, and a connection between the UE and a corenetwork gateway 830 may be recovered.

The receiving unit 920 is further configured to receive a recoveryrequest sent by the UE.

The allocation unit 1010 is further configured to allocate the newservice data flow to the air interface bearer according to the storedcontext of the UE and the QoS information.

The allocation unit 1010 is further configured to allocate the airinterface resource to the air interface bearer, so that the new servicedata flow is transmitted on the air interface bearer.

For a specific example, refer to the related description of the bearercontrol method in Embodiment 5. Details are not described herein again.

According to the bearer control system in this embodiment, when it isdetected that UE is in an idle state, a releasing unit releases firstconnection information, or an RRC connection and second connectioninformation. When a new service request of the UE is received, aconnection between the UE and a core network gateway is recovered indifferent release manners, so that network resource managementefficiency and a network capacity may be improved and power consumptionmay be reduced; further, hierarchical management on a bearer between theUE and a network may be implemented in two different release manners,thereby simplifying a function of an MME, and enhancing management on anair interface resource status by an access network access node.

Embodiment 12

In a bearer control system, a location area of UE may include twomanners. Specifically, in a process of using the UE, a location maychange. Therefore, in a network, the location area of the UE needs to bemanaged. A management manner may include the following two manners.

Manner 1: Location area management is completely performed by an MME820.

Manner 2: An access network access node 810 manages a paging area in theaccess network access node 810, and the MME 820 manages a nodeidentifier when the UE moves between different access network accessnodes 810.

For nodes of the network in which the UE is located, such as the accessnetwork access node 810 and the MME 820, there may be multiplesituations of a location change of the UE. For example, the UEcompletely moves from an original access network access node to anaccess network access node that is not under control of the originalMME, and the serving gateway also changes. If any one of or multiple ofthe original access network access node, the MME, and the servinggateway do not change, a location update procedure may be simplified.

In a possible implementation manner, as shown in FIG. 12a , a new MME1201 to which the UE moves may include a retrieving unit 1210 and anupdating unit 1220. If a location area of the UE is managed by the MME,a context of the UE is stored in the MME, and when the location of theUE changes, the sending unit 970 of the MME is further configured tosend a context release command to the access network access node, so asto instruct the access network access node to release the context of theUE and transfer the context of the UE to the MME, where the context ofthe UE includes at least one of: the service data flow of the UE, theQoS information, a mapping relationship between the service data flow ofthe UE and the air interface bearer, an air interface resource occupiedby the UE, or a location area of the UE.

The retrieving unit 1210 is configured to retrieve the context of the UEfrom the MME.

The updating unit 1220 is connected to the retrieving unit 1210, and isconfigured to update, according to a location change of the UE, alocation area registered by the UE.

In a possible implementation manner, as shown in FIG. 12b , the locationarea of the UE is managed by the access network access node, the MMEmanages a node identifier when the UE moves between different accessnetwork access nodes, and when the location of the UE changes, a newaccess network access node 1202 to which the UE moves may include: areceiving unit 1230, configured to receive an identifier of the MME fromthe UE; and a sending unit 1240, connected to the receiving unit 1230,configured to send, to a new MME, an identifier of the access networkaccess node, a temporary identifier allocated by the MME to the UE, andthe identifier of the MME. The new MME 1201 further includes: adetermining unit 1250, configured to determine whether the UE isregistered; and a searching unit 1260, in a case in which it isdetermined that the UE is registered, configured to: search for anidentifier of the access network access node by using a context of theUE, and instruct, according to the identifier of the access networkaccess node, the access network access node to delete a location arearegistered by the UE; or in a case in which it is determined that the UEis not registered, configured to: find the MME according to the receivedidentifier of the MME, search the MME for a registered context of theUE, search for an identifier of the access network access node by usingthe context of the UE, and instruct, according to the identifier of theaccess network access node, the access network access node to delete thelocation area registered by the UE. The new access network access node1202 further includes: an updating unit 1270, configured to update,according to a location change of the UE, the location area registeredby the UE.

In a possible implementation manner, as shown in FIG. 12c , the locationarea of the UE is managed by the access network access node, the MMEmanages a node identifier when the UE moves between different accessnetwork access nodes, and when the location of the UE changes, the newaccess network access node 1202 to which the UE moves may furtherinclude: a determining unit 1280, configured to determine, according tothe identifier of the MME, whether the MME is the new MME with which thenew access network access node is registered. The sending unit 1240 isfurther configured to: in a case in which a determining result is yes,send, to the new MME, the identifier of the access network access node1202 and the temporary identifier allocated by the MME to the UE; or thesending unit 1240 is further configured to: in a case in which adetermining result is no, send, to the new MME, the identifier of theaccess network access node 1202, the temporary identifier allocated bythe MME to the UE, and the identifier of the MME.

For a specific example, refer to the related description of the bearercontrol method in Embodiment 6 of the present invention. Details are notdescribed herein again.

In a possible implementation manner, after a location of UE is updated,a new service data flow is generated, and paging of the UE needs to beinitiated.

According to the related description of the foregoing embodiment,downlink data of the UE may be buffered in an access network accessnode, or may be buffered in a serving gateway. In a possibleimplementation manner, the receiving unit 920 of the access networkaccess node is further configured to: receive the downlink data of theUE, or receive downlink data sent by the serving gateway; and initiatepaging of the UE in the location area registered by the UE. In anotherpossible implementation manner, the receiving unit 950 of the MME isfurther configured to receive the downlink data of the UE from theserving gateway; the sending unit 970 of the MME is further configuredto send a paging message to the access network access node, so as toinstruct the access network access node to initiate paging of the UE;and the receiving unit 920 of the access network access node is furtherconfigured to: receive the paging message, and initiate paging of the UEin the location area registered by the UE.

For a specific example, refer to the related description of the bearercontrol method in Embodiment 7. Details are not described herein again.

According to the bearer control system in this embodiment, a function ofan MME is simplified by performing hierarchical management on a bearerbetween UE and a network. This enhances management on a context of theUE by an access network access node, further, improves network resourcemanagement efficiency and a network capacity, reduces power consumption,and provides a basis for further evolution of a mobile network.

Embodiment 13

FIG. 13 is a structural block diagram of a bearer control system 1300according to Embodiment 13. The bearer control system 1300 may be a hostserver having computing power, a personal computer PC, a portablecomputer or terminal, or the like. A specific embodiment of the presentinvention imposes no limitation on specific implementation of acomputing node.

The bearer control system 1300 includes a processor 1310, acommunications interface 1320, a memory 1330, and a bus 1340. Theprocessor 1310, the communications interface 1320, and the memory 1330complete communication between them by using the bus 1340.

The communications interface 1320 is configured to communicate with anetwork device, where the network device includes a virtual machinemanagement center, a shared storage, and the like.

The processor 1310 is configured to execute a program. The processor1310 may be a central processing unit CPU or an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), or may be configured to be one or moreintegrated circuits that implement this embodiment.

The memory 1330 is configured to store a file. The memory 1330 mayinclude a high-speed RAM memory, and may further include a non-volatilememory, for example, at least one disk storage device. Alternatively,the memory 1330 may be a storage device array. The memory 1330 may bedivided into blocks, and the blocks may form a virtual volume accordingto a specific rule.

In a possible implementation manner, the foregoing program may beprogram code that includes a computer operation instruction. The programis applied to a network architecture supporting multiple accesstechnologies, and may be specifically used to: establish a packet datanetwork (PDN) connection when a terminal device UE accesses a network;and identify and transmit a service data flow of the UE on an airinterface bearer between the UE and an access network access nodeaccording to obtained quality of service (QoS) information, and transmitthe service data flow by using a transmission tunnel between the accessnetwork access node and a core network gateway, or directly send theservice data flow to a packet data network by using the access networkaccess node.

In a possible implementation manner, the establishing a packet datanetwork (PDN) connection when a terminal device UE accesses a networkincludes: adding a PDN connection policy session to an access networkcontrol session between the access network access node and a PCRF; oradding the PDN connection policy session between the access networkaccess node and a mobility management entity MME and/or between the MMEand the PCRF.

In a possible implementation manner, before the identifying andtransmitting a service data flow of the UE on an air interface bearerbetween the UE and an access network access node according to obtainedQoS information, the foregoing program is further configured to:receive, by the access network access node, the QoS information sent bythe PCRF, or receive, by the access network access node by using theMME, the QoS information sent by the PCRF; and perform, by the accessnetwork access node, radio resource control RRC connectionreconfiguration between the UE and the access network node according tothe QoS information, and allocate an air interface resource to the airinterface bearer.

In a possible implementation manner, the performing, by the accessnetwork access node, radio resource control protocol RRC connectionreconfiguration includes: sending, by the access network access node, anRRC connection reconfiguration message to the UE, and allocating the airinterface resource to the air interface bearer; and receiving, by theaccess network access node, an RRC connection reconfiguration successresponse from the UE. The RRC connection reconfiguration messageincludes a mapping relationship between the service data flow of the UEand the air interface bearer and an identifier of the air interfaceresource, and the identifier is used to indicate the air interfaceresource used by the UE to transmit, on the air interface bearer, theservice data flow.

In a possible implementation manner, the core network gateway includes aserving gateway and/or a packet data gateway, and before thetransmitting the service data flow by using a transmission tunnelbetween the access network access node and a core network gateway, theforegoing program is further configured to: receive, by the MME, a PDNconnection establishment request sent by the UE, where the PDNconnection establishment request carries a PDN identifier access pointname APN; select, by the MME, the core network gateway according to theAPN and subscription information of the UE; send, by the MME, a sessionestablishment request to the core network gateway, where the sessionestablishment request carries first channel information allocated by theserving gateway to the PDN connection, the first channel informationincludes an IP address and a port number that are of a first channel andthat are allocated by the access network access node to the UE, and thefirst channel information is used to establish the first channel betweenthe serving gateway and the packet data gateway; and return, by the corenetwork gateway, a session establishment response to the MME, where thesession establishment response carries second channel informationallocated by the packet data gateway to the PDN connection, the secondchannel information includes an IP address and a port number that are ofa second channel and that are allocated by the core network gateway tothe UE, and the second channel information is used to establish thesecond channel between the packet data gateway and the serving gateway;where the first channel and the second channel form the transmissiontunnel, which is used to transmit the service data flow between theaccess network access node and the core network gateway.

In a possible implementation manner, when the access network access nodedetects the service data flow of the UE, the foregoing program isfurther configured to: send, by the access network access node, aservice detection report to the PCRF, and receive the QoS informationreturned by the PCRF; or send, by the access network access node byusing the MME, a service detection report to the PCRF, and receive, byusing the MME, the QoS information returned by the PCRF; and allocate,by the access network access node, the service data flow of the UE tothe air interface bearer according to the QoS information.

In a possible implementation manner, in a case in which the accessnetwork access node detects that the UE does not have a service dataflow in a first preset period of time, the foregoing program is furtherconfigured to: release first connection information between the accessnetwork access node and the UE, store a context of the UE in the accessnetwork access node, and buffer downlink data of the UE in the accessnetwork access node, where the first connection information is at leastone of: the mapping relationship between the service data flow of the UEand the air interface bearer, or the air interface resource allocated bythe access network access node to the UE.

In a possible implementation manner, in a case in which the accessnetwork access node detects that the UE does not have a service dataflow in a first preset period of time, the foregoing program is furtherconfigured to: release an RRC connection and second connectioninformation that is between the access network access node and theserving gateway, store the context of the UE in the MME, and buffer thedownlink data of the UE in the serving gateway, where the secondconnection information is at least one of: intermediate data generatedwhen the service data flow is transmitted between the access networkaccess node and the serving gateway, an occupied memory, an occupiedport, or an occupied computing resource; and the context of the UEincludes at least one of: the service data flow of the UE, the QoSinformation, the air interface resource occupied by the UE, or alocation area of the UE.

In a possible implementation manner, when the UE has a new service dataflow, the foregoing program is further configured to: receive, by theaccess network access node, a recovery request sent by the UE; allocate,by the access network access node, the new service data flow to the airinterface bearer according to the stored context of the UE and the QoSinformation; and allocate, by the access network access node, the airinterface resource to the air interface bearer, so that the new servicedata flow is transmitted on the air interface bearer.

In a possible implementation manner, the foregoing program is furtherconfigured to: add or modify, by the access network access node, adedicated air interface bearer according to the QoS information, wherethe dedicated air interface bearer is established according to at leastone of a scheduling priority, a delay, a packet loss rate, or abandwidth requirement in the QoS information, and the dedicated airinterface bearer carries matching information of the service data flowand the dedicated air interface bearer.

In a possible implementation manner, a location area of the UE ismanaged by an MME, a context of the UE is stored in the MME, and when alocation of the UE changes, the following steps are further included:sending, by the MME, a context release command to the access networkaccess node, so as to instruct the access network access node to releasethe context of the UE and transfer the context of the UE to the MME,where the context of the UE includes at least one of: the service dataflow of the UE, the QoS information, a mapping relationship between theservice data flow of the UE and the air interface bearer, an airinterface resource occupied by the UE, or a location area of the UE;retrieving, by a new MME, the context of the UE from the MME; andupdating, by the new MME according to a location change of the UE, alocation area registered by the UE.

In a possible implementation manner, the location area of the UE ismanaged by the access network access node, the MME manages a nodeidentifier when the UE moves between different access network accessnodes, and when the location of the UE changes, the following steps arefurther included: sending, by the UE, the identifier of the MME to a newaccess network access node; sending, by the new access network accessnode to a new MME, an identifier of the new access network access node,a temporary identifier allocated by the MME to the UE, and theidentifier of the MME; determining, by the new MME, whether the UE isregistered; if yes, searching, by the new MME, for an identifier of theaccess network access node by using a context of the UE, andinstructing, according to the identifier of the access network accessnode, the access network access node to delete a location arearegistered by the UE; or if no, finding, by the new MME, the MMEaccording to the received identifier of the MME, searching the MME for aregistered context of the UE, searching for an identifier of the accessnetwork access node by using the context of the UE, and instructing,according to the identifier of the access network access node, theaccess network access node to delete a location area registered by theUE; and updating, by the new access network access node according to thelocation change of the UE, the location area registered by the UE.

In a possible implementation manner, the location area of the UE ismanaged by the access network access node, the MME manages a nodeidentifier when the UE moves between different access network accessnodes, and when the location of the UE changes, the following steps arefurther included: sending, by the UE, the identifier of the MME to thenew access network access node; determining, by the new access networkaccess node according to the identifier of the MME, whether the MME isthe new MME with which the new access network access node is registered;if yes, sending, by the new access network access node to a new MME, theidentifier of the new access network access node and the temporaryidentifier allocated by the MME to the UE, searching, by the new MME,for an identifier of the access network access node by using the contextof the UE, and instructing, according to the identifier of the accessnetwork access node, the access network access node to delete thelocation area registered by the UE; or if no, sending, by the new accessnetwork access node to the new MME, the identifier of the new accessnetwork access node, the temporary identifier allocated by the MME tothe UE, and the identifier of the MME, finding, by the new MME, the MMEaccording to the received identifier of the MME, searching the MME for aregistered context of the UE, searching for an identifier of the accessnetwork access node by using the context of the UE, and instructing,according to the identifier of the access network access node, theaccess network access node to delete the location area registered by theUE; and updating, by the new access network access node according to thelocation change of the UE, the location area registered by the UE.

In a possible implementation manner, when the UE has a new service dataflow, the foregoing program is further configured to: receive, by theaccess network access node, the downlink data of the UE, or receivedownlink data sent by the serving gateway; and initiate paging of the UEin the location area registered by the UE.

In a possible implementation manner, the foregoing program is furtherconfigured to: receive, by the MME, a downlink data notification of theUE from the serving gateway, and send a paging message to the accessnetwork access node, so as to instruct the access network access node toinitiate paging of the UE; or receive, by the access network accessnode, the paging message, and initiate paging of the UE in the locationarea registered by the UE.

A person of ordinary skill in the art may be aware that, exemplary unitsand algorithm steps in the embodiments described in this specificationmay be implemented by electronic hardware or a combination of computersoftware and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are implementedby hardware or software depends on particular applications and designconstraint conditions of the technical solutions. A person skilled inthe art may select different methods to implement the describedfunctions for a particular application, but it should not be consideredthat the implementation goes beyond the scope of the present invention.

If the functions are implemented by computer software and are sold orused as independent products, it may be deemed, to some extent, that allor part (such as the part that contributes to the prior art) of thetechnical solutions of the present invention is embodied by a computersoftware product. The computer software product is generally stored in acomputer readable non-volatile storage medium and includes severalinstructions for instructing a computer device (which may be a personalcomputer, a server, or a network device, and the like) to perform all orsome steps of the methods described in the embodiments of the presentinvention. The foregoing storage medium includes any medium that canstore program code, such as a USB flash drive, a removable hard disk, aread-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk,or an optical disc.

The foregoing descriptions are merely specific implementation manners ofthe present invention, but are not intended to limit the protectionscope of the present invention. Any variation or replacement readilyfigured out by a person skilled in the art within the technical scopedisclosed in the present invention shall fall within the protectionscope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of thepresent invention shall be subject to the protection scope of theclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, by an accessnetwork access node in a network supporting multiple accesstechnologies, quality of service (QoS) information from a policy andcharging rule function; allocating, by the access network access node, aresource to an air interface bearer between a user equipment (UE) andthe access network access node, wherein the access network access nodeis wirelessly connected to the UE, and the air interface bearer is atransmission path between the UE and the access network access node;identifying, by the access network access node, one or more service dataflows of the UE; allocating, by the access network access node, the oneor more service data flows of the UE to the air interface beareraccording to the QoS information; and sending, by the access networkaccess node to the UE, a mapping relationship between the one or moreservice data flows of the UE and the air interface bearer.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, by the accessnetwork access node, the one or more service data flows of the UE on theair interface bearer.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein themapping relationship is carried in a radio resource control (RRC)connection reconfiguration message.
 4. The method according to claim 1,wherein receiving the QoS information from the policy and charging rulefunction comprises: receiving, by the access network access node using amobility management entity, the QoS information from the policy andcharging rule function.
 5. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving, by the access network access node, a secondservice data flow from the UE on the air interface bearer; andtransmitting, by the access network access node, the second service dataflow to a core network gateway using a transmission tunnel between theaccess network access node and the core network gateway.
 6. Anapparatus, comprising: a processor; a communications interface; anon-transitory memory; and a bus; wherein the processor is configured toexecute a program stored in the memory, causing the processor to:receive quality of service (QoS) information from a policy and chargingrule function; allocate a resource to an air interface bearer between auser equipment (UE) and an access network access node, wherein theaccess network access node is wirelessly connected to the UE, and theair interface bearer is a transmission path between the UE and theaccess network access node; identify one or more service data flows ofthe UE; allocate the one or more service data flows of the UE to the airinterface bearer according to the QoS information; and send a mappingrelationship between the one or more service data flows of the UE andthe air interface bearer to the UE.
 7. The apparatus according to claim6, wherein the processor is further configured to: transmit the one ormore service data flows of the UE on the air interface bearer.
 8. Theapparatus according to claim 6, wherein the mapping relationship iscarried in a radio resource control (RRC) connection reconfigurationmessage.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the processor isfurther configured to: receive, using a mobility management entity, theQoS information from the policy and charging rule function.
 10. Theapparatus according to claim 6, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: receive a second service data flow from the UE on the airinterface bearer; and transmit the second service data flow to a corenetwork gateway using a transmission tunnel between the access networkaccess node and the core network gateway.
 11. A system, comprising: anaccess network access node; and a policy and charging rule function,configured to send quality of service (QoS) information to the accessnetwork access node; wherein the access network access node isconfigured to: receive the QoS information from the policy and chargingrule function; allocate a resource to an air interface bearer between auser equipment (UE) and the access network access node, wherein theaccess network access node is wirelessly connected to the UE, and theair interface bearer is a transmission path between the UE and theaccess network access node; identify one or more service data flows ofthe UE, and allocate the one or more service data flows of the UE to theair interface bearer according to the QoS information; and send amapping relationship between the one or more service data flows of theUE and the air interface bearer to the UE.
 12. The system according toclaim 11, wherein the access network access node is further configuredto: transmit the one or more service data flows of the UE on the airinterface bearer.
 13. The system according to claim 11, wherein themapping relationship is carried in a radio resource control (RRC)connection reconfiguration message.
 14. The system according to claim11, wherein the access network access node is further configured to:receive, using a mobility management entity, the QoS information fromthe policy and charging rule function.
 15. The system according to claim11, wherein the access network access node is further configured to:receive a second service data flow from the UE on the air interfacebearer; and transmit the second service data flow to a core networkgateway using a transmission tunnel between the access network accessnode and the core network gateway.
 16. A method comprising: sending, bya policy and charging rule function, quality of service (QoS)information to an access network access node; receiving, by the accessnetwork access node, the QoS information from the policy and chargingrule function; allocating, by the access network access node, a resourceto an air interface bearer between a user equipment (UE) and the accessnetwork access node, wherein the access network access node iswirelessly connected to the UE, and the air interface bearer is atransmission path between the UE and the access network access node;identifying, by the access network access node, one or more service dataflows of the UE; allocating, by the access network access node, the oneor more service data flows of the UE to the air interface beareraccording to the QoS information; and sending, by the access networkaccess node, a mapping relationship between the one or more service dataflows of the UE and the air interface bearer to the UE.
 17. The methodaccording to claim 16, further comprising: transmitting, by the accessnetwork access node, the one or more service data flows of the UE on theair interface bearer.
 18. The method according to claim 16, wherein themapping relationship is carried in a radio resource control (RRC)connection reconfiguration message.
 19. The method according to claim16, wherein receiving the QoS information from the policy and chargingrule function comprises: receiving, by the access network access nodeusing a mobility management entity, the QoS information from the policyand charging rule function.
 20. The method according to claim 16,further comprising: receiving, by the access network access node, asecond service data flow from the UE on the air interface bearer; andtransmitting, by the access network access node, the second service dataflow to a core network gateway using a transmission tunnel between theaccess network access node and the core network gateway.